Some of the woody plants have seasonal flowers so spectacular that it would be my clumsiness not to make them known to you. That way, if your garden lacks color at that particular time of year, you’ll know how to remedy the situation.
I think this service is especially important in the winter when not many plants put on flower shows. Such plants may respond to pruning with another wave of flowers. Each represents a primary color and cannot but be mentioned.
The first of these is Turks Cap (Malvaviscus arboreus). Native to coastal Texas and Louisiana all the way to South America, the scarlet flowers of the Turk are rare because they never open.
Unaware of this peculiarity, I recall the irritation I experienced on my first encounter with this plant. It was certain that something was missing in the growing conditions or that it had fallen prey to hidden pathogens and pests. But soon I learned that sleeping her was hibiscus due to the fact that another name for this plant is a cousin of hibiscus. The only difference between the two flowers is that the turban cap petals remain tightly wrapped around the extruded flower. A tube that reminds us of a similar structure in the center of a hibiscus flower.
Turkscap can grow in almost any type of soil, in full to partial sun. It’s an excellent candidate for a side garden or slope, plant something and water it for a year or two, then let it grow into an endless 10-foot-tall bush.The Turkscap is a bird his watcher. considered more attractive to hummingbirds than any other plant. If you cut off the flower and suck it from the bottom, you can taste the sweet freshness that explains the hummingbird’s passion.
malbaviscus, whose botanical name means viscous (sticky) malva and refers to the slimy sap of this plant. This is a trait it shares with many other members of the Malva or Malvaceae family, such as the sticky vegetable okra. It grows in marshes and its sap is sticky and sweet. The ancient Egyptians made candy from its roots, thus giving rise to the confection we call marshmallows. Similar to marshmallow root. Almost Eden (almost edenplants.com) is a highly regarded mail-order nursery in Louisiana that grows 10 varieties of Turkscap, including a pink-and-white-flowered variety and a variety with green-and-white variegated foliage.
Euryops (Euryops pectinatus) is a South African drought-tolerant shrub that grows 5 to 6 feet tall and spherical. It blooms virtually non-stop and is especially notable in winter as its bright yellow daisy blooms provide a sunny antidote to dull, overcast skies. and is intricately divided. His two valuable cultivars of this species are Viridis, named for its Viridian or chrome green leaves, and Munchkin, which grows to half the size of the seed. Viridis’ deep green yet luminous foliage contrasts with the dull green to grey-green to silvery gray foliage of most drought-tolerant plants.
The yellow flowers of Euryiops enhance the visibility of mauve, pink, and salmon flowers found, for example, in the Martha Washington geranium. H.There are flowers only for oney euryops (Euryops virgineus). It is 1 inch wide, but grows abundantly on stems with delicate leaves. In full bloom, all you see is a golden, molten mass of sulphur-yellow flowers. This is a large shrub that eventually reaches 8-9 feet in height and 5-6 feet in circumference.
The final member of this trinity of hardy winter flowers is the blue potato bush (Lycyanthes rantonnetii). Notorious for being Lollipop trained as a container plant, it is extremely uncomfortable when confined to its limited form. There is no doubt that it is growing that way because it is impossible. However, in my experience, it is extremely difficult to maintain that state for a long time. But if left alone, the blue potato bushes will expand into more than bushes, sprawling walls of flowers that are 10 feet high and 10 feet wide. Royal Robe is a cultivar with dark purple flowers, but cultivars with variegated foliage are sometimes found. Finally, the Alba cultivar has white flowers with occasional bluish-purple streaks.
If you have any woody perennials that are currently flowering, please write to me about them and send me photos as well as questions and comments about garden phenomena. joshua@perfectplants.com.
from california this week: The island snapdragon (Galvezia speciosa) is related to the snapdragons we plant for bedding, but has a much wider range of uses. When planted in open ground and allowed to grow naturally, it forms a sprawling mound that grows up to 4 feet high and 7 feet wide, suitable for full to partial sun. However, pruning can also give it a more formal look. It can also be utilized “as a boxwood hedge replacement,” as described in the classic “California Native Plants for the Garden.”
If planted near the trunk of a tree, it can climb up to 15 feet high like a vine. The flowers are red and tend to squeeze the ends of the flowering shoots, so island snapdragons are good for spilling over walls or spilling out of containers. To do so, cut back to about ground level just before spring. Not particularly cold hardy, but tolerates light frosts. Island snapdragons bloom profusely all year round, but most often in late winter and early spring.